I don’t know if this is an option for you, but my bank here in the Netherlands has several branches in the US and other countries. For me it\'s possible to open a US account through my local bank by simply filling in a form and paying about USD 100. Maybe you could ask around at the banks in Athens.

Carla

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I did call them, but the procedures differ from bank to bank I guess. My bank here (Citibank) gave me a toll free number in the US central so I could open up an account directly with the bank in the states.

The problem was that they require a minimum deposition of $25.000, otherwise I\'ll be charged something monthly. You can understand that this is too much to invest just to offer a small convenience to my US based clients, therefore I\'m looking for something more ..terrestrial!

Best,

Alex Seidanis

[ This Message was edited by: on 2001-06-16 03:20 ]

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xxxeurotransl German to English + ...

Jun 16, 2001

You may want to look into Internet banks such as the well-established ING. They have a truly global presence and allow for accounts in different currencies. Perhaps it would be helpful to your US clients if you had a US$-denominated account with ING or some other Internet bank. On top of everything else, ING does not charge fees.

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Of course, you have to pay a monthtly charge (tax deductible) and a commission (4-5%, less if you have volume), but the avantages are there: immediate payment, no bouncing cheques, no fuzz with change rates and so forth...

Your billings would have to be in the local currency though. And you have to check if there is any special requirements for a transaction done manually (since you won\'t always have the card, although a regular client might accept to issue a company card in your name, like it would do for some employees).

For large amounts, Visa might call the client to check that he indeed has authorized the transaction.

Notice that the terminals now usually take both Visa and direct payment. No commission is paid on direct payment, but a fixed rate (0.35 $ here).

My clients love it (even more when they get air miles out of it!!) and so do i. The only unhappy one is my debt collection agent...

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xxxZareahUnited States English to German + ...

I got one too

Nov 16, 2001

Hi Alex,

I am from Germany and since I am in the U.S. 4 months a year I went to one of the local banks in the U.S. and got me a bank account. I only needed my passport and driver\'s license.

Hope I could help,

Nadine[addsig]

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Don't know if it's any help give the age of this thread, but I've been able to open Dollar, Euro and Sterling accounts with Citibank. I can transfer money between each account very easily and more cheaply than most transfer services.

They also issue bank cards and cheque books in each currency so if I ever travel or have to pay people in another currency, I don't have to exchange any money.

Alex Seidanis wrote:
I did call them, but the procedures differ from bank to bank I guess. My bank here (Citibank) gave me a toll free number in the US central so I could open up an account directly with the bank in the states.
The problem was that they require a minimum deposition of $25.000, otherwise I\'ll be charged something monthly. You can understand that this is too much to invest just to offer a small convenience to my US based clients, therefore I\'m looking for something more ..terrestrial!

Long ago I had "foreigner's" accounts with both Citibank and the late BankBoston (bought by BoA). Unless you keep at least $25K with them, they'll charge you $35 per month just to keep the account there.

I wouldn't know about the Citibank account, didn't try it, however the BankBoston account was located in a high-floor office in Miami, and not any of their Fleet branches. Later I discovered that it was considered an 'offshore bank', in spite of being physically within the USA, so PayPal was unable to transfer funds directly there, if this is what you had in mind.

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After nine eleven, a law was passed in 2001 called USA Patriot Act. Unfortunately, this law makes it pretty difficult for non-Americans to open a US bank account. Of course, it is not impossible but it is substantially more difficult. The intention was to prevent terrorists from opening bank accounts in the United States. USA Patriot Act requires banks to implement elaborate customer identification programs. I am not very familiar with the details of the Patriot Act but you can easily Google it on the Internet. Good luck!

[Edited at 2012-08-20 19:09 GMT]

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A friend of mine opened up a personal US bank account with Bank of America during a business trip to the US this year. The bank did require his passport and visa. I don't remember them charging monthly fees or requiring deposit. They did require account activities though.
The suggestions above from Germaine is much better for processing US payments, IMO.

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